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$3K for a 1980 210 wagon in California. The good news is it's a 5-speed, that seems like a lot of money especially for an ad with almost no photos or description. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/d/gilroy-1980-datsun-210-wagon/6958826390.html

It might help people steer you right if we knew what you needed a shop for. Some guys are great panel beaters, some are great welders, and others are all about the spray-out. Overall or just a touch-up...?

Just bought *another* 210 wagon, at least they are fairly small. Anyway, the suspension borders on terrifying but after adjusting the steering box, changing the strut oil, and some tires, the next worst issue is the shocks in the rear. Since it's a wagon the back can weigh pretty significantly different amounts, I usually run around empty but sometimes load it up with tools or whatnot and get right up against the GVWR. So I'm thinking something soft but with an air-assist. Anybody have a suggestion for what works without suffering? thanks,

At a San Jose, CA wrecking yard. They have it listed as a B210 but of course it's an 810. 4-speed manual and three original hubcaps in the back seat.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did replace the needle and seat and set the float height, fuel level looks OK. I passed the car on to someone more excited about it than I was. Now I can get back to work on my 210 and the new (to me) 1200.

Not on CL yet (later today) but there is a long-standing wrecking yard on the central coast of California that is closing up shop later this week. Anthony's auto wrecking in Santa Cruz. They don't have anything old Datsun, mid 90s is as old as the Nissans go, but what they do have is CHEAP. Like bring $100 and take away a car cheap. So if you want a 2.4 altima motor, a series 3 MG Midget, or seats out of a BMW to rat up your dime, you have one to three days depending on how fast they get the crusher running! Some decent wheels left seems like. I got an armload of cooling fans off the shelf, I think it was under $5/ea and one was a cool old Nippon Denso. Mufflers, fuel pumps, independent suspension swap bits, I'm having way too much fun. I'm in the same industrial complex and happy to help if I can but I'm pretty busy grabbing ford van parts.

Just FWIW there is a fresh 200SX in the Fresno, CA Pick-N-Pull. Looked complete and in decent condition.

Thinking I'll skip over the electronic part, an old Bosch K-jetronic system needs ignition and starter power and nothing else electrical while fixing most of what I don't like about carburettors. It's barely possible that one could build a lighter megasquirt setup and I'm sure one could come up with a better fuel-map but easy wins for me on this. Should cost me under $200.

Have to figure out a way to cool them as well. I'm trying to not go too far outside the box, hence an interest in the CR engine since they at least have a touch of common heritage with the A-series motors. I did consider the V4 Ford motor for just a moment, similar to a A-series in weight, capable of some power, and would look super cool under the hood. So far the E15 sounds like the only winning swap and even then not by much. I'll hope to get an honest weight for a CR1x motor someday but until then I guess I'll consider just doing a turbo/FI A12.

I wonder what the Miata gearbox is, oh wait... the internet! Looks like 76-80lbs and, wow are they ever cheap! I just weighed a 4-speed transmission I pulled off an A14 at 45Lbs so that is going the wrong direction in a big way. I'll run the 4-speed unless I find something lighter or 5-speed I can afford. I did just check the Micra forums and I suppose it's not a huge shock that Micra owners seem less technically savvy than the folks here, not a lot of detailed technical information to say the least. I'll dig some more and see what comes out. The battery is great advice of course. I killed a couple very expensive lithium batteries due to aging electrical issues with my 210 so switched to a small AGM. It's a lot cheaper, more robust, but still only weighs about 11Lbs. Not only does it save you a lot of weight, it's weight that is really far forward and up high so I really felt it. At the time my commute was up a winding mountain road and just changing from a big wet battery to the lithium made the brakes work better and saved me a lot of gear changes.

I must admit to being a bit surprised and disappointed that the aluminum motors aren't lighter than a cast iron motor and also don't seen to make more power than they do. Changing to a 16V crossflow head did pretty amazing things for the other motor series I spend time with, the 2.0 Saab engine. I have a spare A14 but I think I'd rather keep the A12 and put a turbo on it, for the same weight increase I'd get a lot more torque and who dosen't smile after waiting for the snail to spool it finally makes full boost. I appreciate that people are trying to help but the "X makes a lot more power than a A12" isn't what I need since just about anything makes more power than a stock A12. I'm looking for reduced weight and increased efficiency, sure I'll make it more powerful but I want to make the rest of the car work better and with the work I did on my 210 I was impressed by how shaving 50lbs off the car made it feel. OK, an E15 is lighter than an A, thanks very much for that. Now we're getting somewhere. I wonder if that's an A14/15 in which case it weighs about the same as an A12. I'd rather have less weight but more power in the same weight is as least not going the wrong direction. I imagined that I'd eventually go with a crank-fire setup though it wouldn't have hurt my feelings to be able to run a distributor while I got things settled a bit. I'm not particularly attached to the A bolt pattern since the car currently has the dreaded slushbox and with all the Spridget folks driving the price of a 5-speed so high I imagine I'll be reconsidering my transmission anyway. Of course if anybody has a 5-speed tranny for a reasonable price I'm willing to reconsider. 🙂 I'm a machinist with a CNC or four at my disposal so adapter plates and such aren't a problem. I do still wonder what a CR12 really weighs, or rather what that weight includes.

If I just wanted a little more power I'd go ahead and drop in an A14 or even just do mods on the A12 (87Kg) and it easily could come to that. I was looking for modest performance gains, lower emissions, and a way to capitalize on one of the car's outstanding attributes, it's light weight. It did seem like an engine of similar displacement but using an Al block and other modern attributes (timing belt rather than chain, direct drive distributor, no pushrods, plastic intake manifold, tube steel exhaust manifold, etc.) *should* be lighter

Ah, just Google stuff: CR10 ~110KG CR12,CR14, ~120KG Odd, since that's a lot heavier that An A12 or A14 despite that Al block... Perhaps it's something like an all-up weight with gearbox or all the engine control stuff, in any case it seems to not make a lot of sense. Anybody out there with first-hand A12 vs CR1x experience?

So, thinking about a swap in my 1200. Not that I don't enjoy the A12 motor but I'd love this car to lose some weight and since I need to find a manual transmission anyway... Seems like the CR series motors are sort of spiritual grandchildren of the A motors and Al block to boot so I thought I'd have a look. If I use a CR12 I can feel OK about the 1200 badge on the boot lid, question is, what does a CR12 series weigh? Also, does a CR10 or CR14 weigh more or less? Obviously, since I'm in the states the availability of CR motors is poor so I'm willing to consider other options but I don't have the heart to put anything Honda or Toyota in there, perhaps something from Smart or Ford but Nissan motors get first look.

The carb is on the passenger side and the valve cover says NissanZ, so I'm thinking Z... Pink slip says 1980 but VIN starts with WHLA10. Newer than any Datto I've ever owned so I'm in new territory here. When I ran it in the driveway and looked down the carb, slowly revving it I do see fuel coming out of the primary venturi but you raise a good point in that one of the only orifices I didn't verify was the primary jet. My smog machine suggests the HCs go really high before it dies like it's dumping fuel, but of course that's completely inconsistent with running pretty well until the choke opens. Made me question the ignition but honestly I'm a little bit intimidated by anything that drives 8 spark-plugs using 2 coils!

I know it's hard to get performance 13" but I just bought a 1200 with factory wheels and am now challenged to find tires. I know there are several options out there from manufacturers I've never heard of and pretty much all 155/80. I'd love to know of some just ever so slightly wider tires from a company I'd have some trust in. Otherwise, how have people been fairing with their Nanking, Federal, Americus, etc. tires? Are they actually decent or is it just time to steal some 13s from my 210 pile?

Symptom is this, car runs great when it's cold but as soon as it warms up it idles strong but dies when you give it throttle. It's particularly bad when you come off the brakes and try to start moving after a stop. I did kit the carburettor since the accelerator pump wasn't working, it wasn't that dirty at all and I took pains to make sure I blew out every passage with compressed air. I did find the main venturi to be loose so replaced the O-ring and tightened it in. If you accelerate *very* slowly you can get up to some sort of speed. Automatic and factory carb. Hose routing looks stock but not sure things are working as they should be.

So, I like the idea of a turbo A-series motor but I don't understand why people make it more complicated than it has to be. I see lots of people trying to make it work with carburettors and of course that's just not something that is naturally going to work out. Seems like it's either the extreme low-buck crowd or those folks who don't want to mess with a megasquirt setup. Then the megasquirt folks, seems like a good way to do it but gets complicated with all the bits and pieces. What I haven't seen is people doing it the easy way: The first mass-produced turbocharged car was the Saab 99. They used a Bosch Jetronic mechanical fuel injection. In it's essence it just uses a spring-loaded plate the air flows by as an air-mass sensor that moves a plunger that meters fuel to the injectors. Very like a variable-venturi carburettor but with the fuel added downstream, a natural fit for a turbo! You can make it work with just one wire to the fuel pump. Bonus points for a warm-up regulator (think choke), it's nice to have a fuel accumulator to aid warm-up, and a cold-start injector (also nice for dumping fuel during heavy boost) but it's really simple overall and you can grab the parts off any old Saab, Volvo, VW or whatever European car from the 70s or 80 you care to. No need to tinker with your ignition or so much as own a computer.